This sexy bamboo case could be yours right after you get your hands on the iPhone 5.

Grove, maker of quality bamboo cases for the iPhone, has just begun pre-orders for its new iPhone 5 case. The design of this case is milled from a solid block of bamboo and sanded/oiled by hand. You have the option to get a custom engraving too.

Beautiful, natural, and durable – our iPhone 5 case is stronger than ever thanks to a plant fiber composite core fused to a solid bamboo exterior. Made of 100% post-consumer fibers and renewable bamboo, this product is fresh and sustainable. Its strength comes from being bound with water-based resins under tremendous pressure. A smooth feel and the graceful aging of the bamboo round out this ace of a case!

Each Grove iPhone 5 Case journeys through several days of hard work: milling, filing, gluing, sanding, soaking, oiling, laser engraving, inspecting, and packaging before finally shipping direct to you. And we do every last step from one building in Portland, Oregon.

Since the iPhone 5 doesn’t technically exist yet, Grove is doing more of a Kickstarter-style preorder. Potential customers need only pay $20 now to get that much off the total $80 price of the case when it becomes available. The perk of preordering is that you’ll get the case before everyone else, which is nice if you plan on buying the iPhone 5 right away.

I pre-ordered a Grove case for my iPad 2, and used Vector Design from the Mac App Store to make my own custom artwork.

Every interaction I had with Grove was outstanding. They provided (for $10 extra) a “photoshopped” mockup of the finished product that was stunningly beautiful and made very clear what the product would look like. I emailed them 5 or 6 times getting every detail perfect, and they were gracious, helpful, and speedy. They also, without blinking an eye, made a bunch of tiny changes to the artwork to make sure it would look perfect.

It seems like this new technology might make the cases more durable — but remember, it’s bamboo and leather. It will get scratches, bumps, and cracks over time. My two-year-old dropped the case multiple times, and I’ve repaired it with wood glue. The iPad has survived. Eventually, I got one of those “Military-Grade” cases for it (ugly as sin, huge, bulky, and almost waterproof), and I’ll get my own iPad at some point and re-use the Grove case.

Tinny

I sincerely hope that Apple will amaze us. After ios6 that really makes minimal changes, Who wants a new iPhone just like that.Cook must prove who knows how to dare, he has so far only renewed what was already there, now he has to do something really different. I hope.

About the author

Alex Heath is a senior writer at Cult of Mac and co-host of the CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like "ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation." If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Twitter always works too.

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